The technique of the play-within-the-play and the empowerment of female audiences in Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Abstract

The dialogic nature of the dramatic art allows the female characters of Shakespeare to challenge the stereotypes advocated by their dominant culture. Chaperoned and silenced, the Renaissance female audience may find solace in the freedom of the female characters of Shakespeare, whose plays deconstruct the common image of women by showing that they are never allowed to speak for themselves. The play-within-the-play technique allows the female characters of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream a rare opportunity of assuming the role of both audience and critic. This allows them to challenge the male characters’ representational hegemony from a less vulnerable position than that of the character. This article demonstrates how Shakespeare uses his fictitious female audiences to address and critique the dominant patriarchal myths about the nature of women.